STRESSED OUT??!!

How can you manage your stress?  Here are a few suggestions to help get you through:

Avoid stressful situations: Give yourself a break, if only for a few moments daily.

Change how you react to stress: Focus on one troublesome thing and manage your reactions to him/her/it. It is advisable to do this in moderation, in order to see what method does and does not work for you.

Avoid extremes: Why hate when a little dislike will do? Why generate anxiety when you can be nervous? Why rage when anger will do the job? Why be depressed when you can just be sad?

Set priorities: Don’t overwhelm yourself by fretting about your entire workload. Handle each task as it comes, or selectively deal with matters in some priority.

Set realistic goals: Reduce the number of events going on in your life and you will be able to focus more of your time on what needs to get done.

Take control of the situation: Look around and see if there really is something you can change or control in the situation.

Manage how stress affects you: This is a long range strategy of adapting your situation, and the effects of stress in your life. Try to isolate and work with one “effect” at a time. Don’t overwhelm yourself.

Discover new relaxation techniques: Learn how to best relax yourself. Meditation and breathing exercises have been proven to be very effective in controlling stress. Practice clearing your mind of disturbing thoughts.

Change how you see the situation: Stress is a reaction to events and problems, and you can lock yourself in to one way of reviewing your situation. Seek an outside perspective of the situation, compare it with yours and perhaps lessen your reaction to these conditions.

Figure out what’s most important: Don’t sweat the small stuff. Try to prioritize a few truly important things and let the rest of the details sit on the back burner.

Sleep: A lack of rest just aggravates stress.

Exercise: Work off your stress with physical activity, whether it’s jogging, tennis, or gardening.